Huge gutsThought I’d write in and give my thoughts on Doom Eternal after spending checks notes the last 13 hours playing through it. Well, the first things I’ll say is that you were not joking when you said it was hard. Doom Eternal has been kicking my butt for most of those 13 hours and I honestly don’t know if I’ve got what it takes to complete the game on normal difficultly. I’m going to give it my all though and come back to do it even if I have to beat it on ‘easy first’.

But I’m loving it either way. The fighting is super smooth and I love the way the demons are the way that get more ammo, health, etc. Updating Doom for the modern era is clearly a difficult thing but I think they’ve done a fantastic job. The original reboot was good but this seems to have a lot more variety to it and that’s great.

I haven’t got to any super hard platform sections yet either, although the ones so far have been… weird? They all seem to involve jumps it doesn’t look like you can make and I’m always surprise I’ve made it/gone the right way. Not sure that was a good idea, especially as the game doesn’t seem to really need it, but it sure beats a tacked on stealth section!

Anyway, that’s my review so far. Here’s to the next 13 hours!Baker

Game of the momentI am so happy that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is doing so well. It’s sheer coincidence it’s out now (it was supposed to be out last year, remember) but what timing! Given the horrible events in the real world we have a game that’s about nothing but kicking back and doing nothing but indulge yourself and hang out with friends. Exactly the sort of things we can’t do right now (including the going to shops and buying things!).

I’ve been playing it all weekend and while my island is obviously empty I’ve spent much longer on it in the first two days than I ever remember playing the originals. It’s pure escapism but not in the typical video game style.

I also love that Doom Eternal came out on the same day and is the complete opposite. Since it got good reviews I think I might get that too, just for those times when even Animal Crossing can’t mellow you out. Thank god for video games I say, they’ve come back just in the nick of time.Onibee

Isolated incidentsI read your article on best games to play while you self-isolate and I thought: I wonder if the PSN Stores and Xbox would run some sort of discount across all games available rather than running them at full price?

More people are at home means a bigger (potentially more bored) target audience and if games were cheaper then that could lead to actually more sales?

Keep up the good work.Scotty1974 (PSN ID)

GC: We think that’s probably quite likely, you’re already starting to see some deals that take the crisis into account, such as The Sims 4 being cheap and Football Manager 2020’s free trial.

What is your all-time favourite portable gaming systems and why? What are your favourite games for which systems and of the many games for portable gaming systems which games do you think deserve to make a comeback?

What memories do you have of playing these games and how do you think they hold up compared to today’s portable gaming systems and do you think they have stood the test of time? Finally, is there any portable games you think were underrated that deserved better praise and why?gaz be rotten (gamertag)

GC: We’re not sure that’s going to get much of a response given handheld-only consoles are now all but extinct. Feel free to discuss it in the weekday Inbox though.

Free laughsThanks to Epic Games, I have just played The Stanley Parable. All I can say is, what a game! I haven’t laughed so much in a long time. I have a very dry sense of humour, but this was way beyond what I could have expected. Imagine Hitchhikers Guide in video form, and that’s pretty much what it is.

As we speak, I’m still arguing with the narrator about which door I’m going to take!Moriosi

Bittersweet issueHad a nice surprise in the post the other day. I received the latest Edge magazine, didn’t expect to receive one, as a few days ago Future Publishing, who make Edge and other magazines, closed down for two weeks due to the current news.

They have a review of Half-Life: Alyx in this issue. I am going to enjoy reading it, keeping in mind there might not be another issue for a while but I have got Game Central to read as well as other gaming sites.Andrew J.PS: I’ve got the next Life Is Strange volume 3 graphic novel pre-ordered and it was due to come out next month, but now it is slated for Tuesday, 24th March.

Friendly alienI quite like Mark Cerny. His ASMR tone and evident enthusiasm and knowledge on hardware and software design is appealing. Snappy dresser too. He’s like a benign, friendly alien from a super intelligent race of beings come to earth to show us how to build better video game consoles, while looking pretty swish at the same time.

I agree that the tech reveals are dry but social media demands you say something otherwise it will fill the blanks in with nonsense and lies. After Microsoft revealed the innards of their machine Sony really didn’t have much of a choice but to do the same. What has been revealed has me excited for the next gen though, as both machines are quite a bit more capable then I was expecting.

They’ll be worth it just to play the next Fallout game (god knows when that will be) where I don’t have to go through two load screens just to go into a tiny pre-war chemist to obtain one measly stimpack, only to die on exit – triggering another lengthy load screen.

Interested now to know the price, see the DualShock 5, and games for both machines. I’m guessing that’ll be June/July when E3 was going to happen, before being cancelled.Simundo

GC: Sony didn’t do the same as Microsoft though, all the Xbox Series X’s tech information has been text-only via blogs.

Communal gamingJust wanted to say how much I enjoyed the best consoles ever Reader’s Feature at the weekend. Helps that I agreed with pretty much all of it – minus the 3DO stuff, of which I know nothing about.

The N64 holds a very special place in my heart also. It makes me a little sad to think that the communal gaming I grew up with is now pretty much extinct. The hours spent playing GoldenEye 007 with my mates was some of the best in my life. Great stuff. Chris

Next gen racingTaking into account I didn’t even finish the first one, due to it just burning me out from being overly long, I still can’t wait to see how good Horizon Zero Dawn 2 looks. I don’t think I’ve seen a better looking game yet than the original, on any platform. The Hellblade preview shows that it may run it close though, it genuinely looks live action in parts.

I’m mainly looking forward to racing games, being a big fan of them, it’d be nice to finally get one that looks the business yet doesn’t suffer with pop-in, slowdown, freezes, etc. and hopefully runs at a fixed minimum of 60fps.

I haven’t played one yet this gen that hasn’t suffered at least one glaring issue: Wreckfest has awful slowdown, GT Sport has major pop-in, The Crew 2 has too many to list, Project Cars 2 slowed to a crawl whenever something happened on track, and Dirt Rally had game-breaking lag that’d happen at exactly the wrong time and see you into a tree. And they’re often be at 30fps to boot, which hampers the sense of speed – this is on a Pro too, so must be even worse on the normal PlayStation 4. All good games in their own right, but I’m sure they’d be much better with more grunt and be able to handle a grid of 30+ with ease.

Anyway, good luck and take care to the GC team and all readers and their families, I hope none of you have to suffer C-19 and we can all get back to normal as soon as possible. It’s times like this I’m glad I’m a gamer, I don’t know what I’d do being shut in with only the TV/Netflix and books to pass time, most likely go stir crazy. My backlog might finally go down a bit.Lost-Sock-

Inbox also-ransI just played the Final Fantasy 7 Remake demo, wasn’t very impressed by the combat but perhaps it gets deeper as the game progresses. Expected it to look better given how long it’s been in development, and the Barrett voice acting was so bad. Shame.Charlie

Time to unbox the Wii U, because I think this is the right time to play ZombiU.Raymond

This week’s Hot TopicThe question for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Grackle, who asks if how you play video games has, or is likely to, change during the coronavirus outbreak?

Have you been playing more or less games in the last few weeks and if you’re planning to self-isolate, or just spend more time at home in general, do you have any specific plans in terms of what games you’re going to play? Are you going to be working through your backlog, for example, or playing something specifically to cheer yourself up?

Will you be playing more online games in order to keep in touch with and speak to friend and family, and will you be encouraging them to play games where normally they wouldn’t?

Sponsor

Follow on Facebook

About Us

Tech Newsrust is a multi-platform publisher of technology news and information.

Tech Newsrust has earned a reputation as the leading provider of service news and information that improves the quality of life of its readers by focusing on Mobile, PC, Laptop, Networking, Internet, Security, Gaming and Reviews.